[wmaher2]

I bouaght a very cheap AF 240FT flash online. Mostly so I could get some rear curtain functionality on my K100D. I am a poor student, so buying the 360FGZ etc is not an option right now. It works fine and thanks to this forum, I found out that the voltage is compatible, the AF works aswell. However it being TTL and not
P-TTL is causing many problems with exposure. I cant figure out how to set the power or flash compenstation to take shots and still use my bodies meter effectively. When I try to take a motion shot with rear curtain trails, I have to under expose so much that the trail never apears. Increasing distance isnt always an option.

If anyone has had any experience using this setup, anything similar, or just has some tips to for someone starting out with non ttl flash it would be much apreciated.

[drabina]

I have Pentax DSLR and older thyristor Sunpak flash. As far as I know, the flash will not work in TTL mode on newer Pentax DSLR. I have used it successfully in manual mode. Basically, here are the steps involved:

1. set ISO to 100 (or whatever else but Auto)
2. set the Tv mode on camera
3. set shutter to 180
4. focus on subject
5. read the distance to the subject from the lens
6. set aperture based on the value from the chart on the back of the flash

This works for me. Of course I needed few test shots to determine that I need to overexpose by about 1.5 stops for the images to be actually properly exposed.

I think you can somehow also use the flash in Auto mode but I haven't try that yet.

[Lowell Goudge]

I bouaght a very cheap AF 240FT flash online. Mostly so I could get some rear curtain functionality on my K100D. I am a poor student, so buying the 360FGZ etc is not an option right now. It works fine and thanks to this forum, I found out that the voltage is compatible, the AF works aswell. However it being TTL and not
P-TTL is causing many problems with exposure. I cant figure out how to set the power or flash compenstation to take shots and still use my bodies meter effectively. When I try to take a motion shot with rear curtain trails, I have to under expose so much that the trail never apears. Increasing distance isnt always an option.

If anyone has had any experience using this setup, anything similar, or just has some tips to for someone starting out with non ttl flash it would be much apreciated.

Note that the only Pentax cameras that are TTL capable are the *istD and DS.

This is, however, 2 more models than I believe is available in any other DSLR line up.

TTL is very useful for sports or wild life photography, where you want the flash sensor to register exactly what the metering sees, P-TTL has too much lag.